Join us for the upcoming LASER event! Get your FREE TICKETS! See the LASER EVENT information below!
FREE + OPEN TO THE PUBLIC The North Texas LASER (Leonardo Art/Science Evening Rendezvous) is hosted at UNT by xREZ Art + Science Lab. LASER is an international program of evening gatherings that bring artists and scientists together with the public for informal presentations and lively conversations! North Texas LASER events have powerful themes addressing issues of importance on both local and global scales and include presenters from the sciences, technology, industry, and the arts.
Interested in previous LASER events and speakers? CLICK HERE to WATCH LASER Speaker videos, see image galleries and learn more about prior LASER events on the LASER @ UNT BLOG page!
LASER EVENT CALENDAR
FALL 2017 LASER
Virtual is the new real | Virtual and augmented reality are transforming how we live, work and play.
Thursday, October 19, 2017 @ 6P – 8P
Nasher Hall at Nasher Sculpture Center
2001 Flora Street
Dallas, Texas 75201
Parking and Directions – Click here
FREE + OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Light refreshments
Limited seating
Get your tickets before they are gone!
CLICK HERE for FREE TICKETS
JOIN US for an exciting evening with experts from the arts, sciences and industry to explore the art + science of immersive experiences – virtual and augmented reality! Mix and Mingle with attendees and presenters at the reception and demos starting at 6PM. Speaker presentations start at 6:30P followed by a lively conversation with the audience!
Moderator: Randall Colson is the head of Haynes and Boone’s Technology Transactions Practice Group. Leveraging his industry experience as a hardware and software designer, Randy has extensive experience counseling clients with a myriad of technology and intellectual property-related transactions, including information technology and business process outsourcing, software development and licensing, SaaS, cloud computing, hosting, joint development, distribution, consulting, naming rights and e-commerce transactions. In addition, Randy provides counseling on the use and procurement of patents, trademarks and copyrights, as well as on the intellectual property issues related to corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate securities transactions. Prior to law school, Randy worked as an electrical engineer designing computer hardware and software for Data General Corporation. In addition to his law degree, Randy holds a B.S.E.E. in electrical engineering and a B.A.
Speaker: Ludo Michaud is the Vice President and VFX Creative Director at Corgan MediaLab. With over two decades of experience, Ludo spent most of his career in the creation of visual effects for Televisions and Film. He worked on more than 8 features films, well over a thousand commercials, countless game trailers and even 3D rides. He joined Corgan Medialab to help elevate their 3D/FX department of visualization. Now vice president within the firm, while teaching for the NAD center around the country starting new programs to teach visual effects, Ludo keeps elevating the firm’s visualization group through new techniques, new tools and helping find the right material for the group.
Learn more about Corgan MediaLab: http://www.corgan.com/story/corgan-medialab/
Speaker: Jeremy Kenisky is the Vice President of Creative at Merge VR and ACM SIGGRAPH’s Emerging Technology Chair. He spent 13 years leading an award winning visual effects and post production company in the US focused on high end animation and VFX for broadcast television, film, and IMAX. For the past 7 years, Kenisky has focused on building Augmented and Virtual Reality experiences, pushing the limits of interactivity for agencies, institutions, theme parks, museums, science centers, zoos, and aquariums. In 2016, one of Jeremy’s companies was acquired by Merge VR, where he sits as Vice President of Creative, directing content development, outreach strategy, and helps influence new product design, among a variety of other technology and design related tasks.
Learn more about Kenisky’s work at Merge VR: https://mergevr.com/about
Speaker: Dale Carman is the Executive Creative Director and a Partner at Groove Jones. He has been in the creative business for 25 years, working on major motion pictures, commercials, theme park rides, virtual and augmented reality. Groove Jones is a content creation studio specializing in the development of 360º commercial video productions and immersive Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality apps. They have worked with big brands such as FX, McDonald’s and AT&T on AR and VR commercial projects. In providing 360º video capture, developing real-time render interactive virtual reality experiences and consulting with clients on strategic distribution strategies they are the marketing and creative firm of the future.
Learn more about GrooveJones: https://www.linkedin.com/company/10168712/
Speaker: Ruth West is the Director of UNT’s xREZ Art + Science Lab and is cross-appointed in the College of Visual Arts and Design, College of Information, College of Arts and Sciences and College of Engineering. She is a creative technologist bridging big data‚ visualization‚ sonification‚ virtual and augmented‚reality‚ 3D fabrication‚ and social and mobile media with domains such as neuroscience‚ genomics‚astronomy‚ urban ecology‚ microbiome‚ entertainment and digital remix culture. She creates works with multiple entry points that can exist concurrently as aesthetic experiences‚ cultural interventions or entertainment and serve as the basis for artistically-impelled scientific inquiry and tools
Learn more about Ruth West: http://viewingspace.com/about/
THANK YOU to our SPONSORS & PARTNERS!
Co-host: Katherine Wagner is CEO of Business Council for the Arts (BCA), a not-for-profit business membership organization with members including some of the most conscientious and prominent businesses in Dallas/Fort Worth and surrounding regions. Business Council for the Arts: provides leadership training for business professionals eager to engage the arts in their community, consults with businesses to utilize the arts in employee engagement and client development optimizes business investments in the arts, encouraging best practices in corporate citizenship measures regional economic impact of arts and culture and provides thought leadership on issues of commerce’s interrelationship with culture. Before her work at Business Council for the Arts, Katherine was the Executive Director at the Dallas Visual Art Center.
Learn more about Katherine Wagner’s work at BCA: http://ntbca.org/
Co-host: Eric Ligon is currently the Associate Dean for Administrative Affairs for the College of Visual Arts and Design at UNT. He served in 2013–2014 as the Associate Dean for Academic and Administrative Affairs, and in 2011–2013 the Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs. Ligon has been a member of the faculty of the Communication Design program in the College of Visual Arts and Design for 28 years. Prior to becoming an associate dean, he served as the program coordinator for the communication design program for 8 years. In 2012, Ligon was honored as a Distinguished University Professor at UNT, and the Dallas Society of Visual Communations’ Golden Orchard award for life-time contributions to teaching.
Learn more about Eric Ligon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericligon/
FACULTY PARTNERS
Eric Ligon, Dean of Administrative Affairs, College of Visual Art and Design, UNT
Hepi Wachter, Chair, Design Department, UNT
STUDENT PARTNERS